Learn How to Turn a 2D Concept into an Animated 3D Scene Using Blender
Olga Kononenko talked about the workflow behind the Midnight Journey project, explaining how she used layers to build it in 3D, how she used camera settings for the projection, and the tools she used to animate the scene.
Introduction
Hi! My name is Olga Kononenko, and I've been working as a Concept Artist for over 5 years. I started my journey in the advertising industry, where I was responsible for creating storyboards, key frames, concepts, and many other related tasks. Before that, I spent around 7 years working as a Graphic Designer, gaining extensive experience with a wide range of formats and materials.
Over time, this background allowed me to take part in projects focused on creating cinematics, short animated films, and game development. Some of the most significant projects I've worked on over the past few years include: Tenet of the Spark, League of Legends, 40 Souls, and my personal project, Midnight Journey, which we will take a closer look at in this article.
These days, my main focus is visual development and concept art. I'm constantly exploring different ways of visual expression, looking for interesting solutions at the intersection of various disciplines. This approach is what led me to start learning 3D. I didn't set out to change my professional focus, I just wanted to see what would happen if I combined 2D and 3D, and how this mix could enhance my workflow and creative process.
Midnight Journey
I started working on the Midnight Journey project as part of a 2.5D Blender course led by the amazing mentor Alexandr Iwaac. I'm always in learning mode, and this project became a perfect playground for experimentation and discoveries. I'm deeply inspired by the cultures of ancient civilizations.
I've spent a lot of time traveling across Southeast Asia, where I sketched local ornaments, everyday objects, and architectural compositions. Both during work assignments and in my free time, I also studied the cultures of the Maya and the Aztecs. This extensive research eventually resulted in a dedicated Aztec world-building block for Tenet of the Spark.
The main character of my project visually became a synthesis of these cultures. The design was developed through imagination rather than direct reference, which allowed me to quickly establish the initial concepts and define the overall visual style.
The main goal I set at the beginning of the project was to enhance the visual expressiveness of a 2D illustration using 3D tools. Nature is an integral part of this world, so I wanted to reflect the harmony between the character and the environment. The mesmerizing atmosphere just before nightfall is accompanied by a jungle guardian who warns us of his presence, appearing intimidating at first glance.
Upon closer inspection, however, he reveals an incredible beauty, much like everything living around him. The guardian is composed of numerous intricate mechanisms that move in unison with the wind, mist, and water.
Composition
I started by creating a 2D concept for the scene, where I defined the composition, the distribution of main shapes across depth planes, as well as tone, lighting, and color. Some smaller details and VFX were added later in Blender at the final stage to enhance the sense of presence and depth in the shot.
When working on the vegetation, I moved from large shapes to smaller ones, using contrast to guide the composition. This approach allows the viewer's eye to flow naturally from the edges toward the center of the frame, encouraging closer observation of the details and deeper immersion in the atmosphere.
Before moving into 3D, I separated the illustration into layers so they could later be placed one behind another within the scene. This can be done in any raster or vector graphics software you're comfortable with. The key is to export each layer with an alpha channel in PNG format and use clear, consistent numbering.
Next, I moved into Blender and opened the object menu: Shift and A → Image → Image as Plane. I imported all the layers, adjusted the materials, and positioned them accordingly. During the planning stage, I decided that I didn't want lighting or shadows to affect my textures, so I chose Emission as the Material type. After applying all the settings, the result is a layered pie of planes.
Then I added a camera and, working directly from the camera view, adjusted the position and scale of all objects so they matched the original concept as closely as possible. Some resolution issues may occur with background elements, as they often need to be scaled up almost twice their original size. However, if your textures are in 2K resolution, this is usually more than sufficient. At this stage, the scene blockout is complete.
At this stage, I start adding geometry and immediately assign textures to it by copying them from the planes. To do this, select the object and the plane while holding Shift, then use Ctrl + L → Link Materials. After that, switch to Edit Mode, press A → U → Project from View.
To ensure that all textures are displayed correctly, the projection should be done from the camera view, with additional texture adjustments made in the UV Editor. If the scene includes camera animation, it's important to perform all projections from frame zero, or to create a duplicate of the main camera without animation and use it for projection work.
I used the same pipeline for the environment and all the vegetation. Since the initial concepts already defined the overall look of the scene, I modeled only a few plant assets and complemented them with particle systems, such as grass, pollen around flower buds, and falling leaves.
Assembling the Final Scene
After setting up all the textures, I added a water shader and several VFX elements using tutorial materials, and then moved on to animating the scene. Since this was my first experience working with animation, I relied on standard tools.
For plant movement, I used a shader with a frame sequence that I had prepared in advance in a graphics editor. The lightning flashes were created using the Grease Pencil tool and also follow a frame-by-frame animation approach. Finally, I added smoke shaders using video footage.
As you may have noticed, the character and the entire scene were not designed for full 360° viewing, so for the camera movement, I used a subtle zoom toward the character and added a Noise modifier. To do this, select the camera and open the Graph Editor. In the Object Transforms section, choose the property you want to animate, such as Location. Then open the N panel, switch to the Modifiers tab, click Add, and adjust the parameters.
I used the same approach for the character animation. First, I set up the animation keyframes in the Timeline. Then, selecting each part individually, I applied modifiers with slightly different settings to ensure the movements didn't feel synchronized.
Rendering
For the final render, I used the EEVEE render engine. In the additional scene settings, I enabled Bloom and Motion Blur, and in the Color Management section, I switched the color space from Filmic to Standard. I rendered the scene as a PNG sequence, which allowed me to quickly export all frames at 2K resolution with these settings. After that, I used the Video Editor tab to convert the image sequence into a video format.
Conclusion
I worked intensively on this project for 10 weeks, and it became one of the most exciting journeys I've experienced. Everything I did as part of this project was new to me, and honestly, I had no expectations of how it would turn out. I've always enjoyed this sense of unpredictability, so I can confidently say: try new things, you don't need to know everything to get started.
I hope this article proves useful and sparks the beginning of new creative journeys for you. My sincere thanks to the 80 Level team and Gloria Levine for this opportunity. I was truly happy to share this experience with you. Follow my social media for updates. There will be many more this year:
